Presented as a white paper to the Burning Man Regionals Conference of 2009.
The Perfect Storm – How did we get here?
Conditions were excellent in Seattle. There was a large urban center. Theme camps had been very successful on playa and were starting to plan and mount events locally. Both the Seattle Decompression, and the Northwest summer regional burn event, while disorganized, were working well. The decompression event, SeaCompression, had become increasingly successful, so successful that the organizers ended up making more money than they spent, which was becoming a concern. Then came the catalyst: first, the opening of the Lower Level, a burner-run bar created a community living room which, for the first time, invited everyone to come together on Monday night for Burn Nights to participate in a growing community. The second was a serendipitous trip by two local community leaders to the Burning Man offices in San Francisco where they discussed what was necessary to start some type of burner organization in Seattle. And finally, there was a growing, dedicated and diverse group of people who had discovered that their alterna-vacation could turn out to be a viable way to change their city.
The Challenge - We didn't know what we were doing.
In the summer of 2003, murmers of "Next Level Shit" sparked regular meetings of community stakeholders who were anxious to explore how their investment and involvement in Burning Man could translate into opportunities for positive change locally in Seattle. In a short time an impromptu steering committee was seeded with representatives from most of the major local theme camps, the two Regional Contacts, a couple Rangers and a few high level community leaders.
Seattle has a very possessive and protective burner community and when word got out that a group of people were meeting "in secret" to plan the future of the community, all hell broke loose. For the first time people for whom Burning Man had merely been an interesting vacation discovered that they cared deeply about this nascent community; were deeply mistrustful of any perceived self-appointed authority, and damn well wanted to have a say in what was going to happen. The steering committee renamed itself PNWLLCThingie as a way of conveying their desire to not assume an actual or perceived authoritarian position. Nothing that sounded so silly could ever be too much of a threat.
The first few months of PNWLLCThingie meetings revealed that Seattle had something brewing, but no one knew what that something was. There was an increasingly active and dedicated community desirous of action and suspicious of centralization, but aside from a shared aesthetic, there was no real clear delineation of who this community was. The only solid hooks upon which to hang local identity were the two successful, revenue-generating events.
In response to these new questions and concerns Seattle organized its very first Town Hall. The community was invited and members of the Burning Man organization traveled to Seattle to attend the meeting. The presence of members of the Burning Man Organization and the semi-controversy surrounding the decision to organize resulted in a large, passionate and invested turn out. The reasons behind forming an organization were laid out for the community. Options and arguments for various types of organizations were discussed, breakout groups were held to determine what the purpose and direction of this organization would be. A decision to move ahead was made and as their final act, the PNWLLCThingie "Lightbulb Committee" declared that elections for the board of directors would be open to anyone in the local Burning Man community.
The process of developing democratic elections was one of the first big challenges the organization undertook. Due to the extreme sense of entitlement felt universally by members of the community it was clear that an appointed leadership would never gain the trust nor the participation of the community at large, so the first order of business post-Town Hall was to develop an election process. The process took months as well as the input and effort of dozens of local burners. The result was an incredibly accountable member registration and voting process that addressed the issues of voter fraud, gerrymandering the vote, and board member nomination and term limits.
In the summer of 2006 the first elections were held, an 11-member board elected and the next phase of the organization begun. There was now an official and accountable organization but it still didn't know what it was doing, or how to go about doing it. S'rsly.
The Response – We asked for help.
Initially the board was almost entirely reactive, and the first year of the organization was focused on putting out fires. What do we do? Who is responsible for what? Whom do we serve? What do we do with the money? LLC or nonprofit?
At the "Lightbulb Committee" level it had seemed that the PNWLLCThingie was heading toward an LLC structure, but the board realized quickly that a nonprofit organizational structure not only allowed for tax-deductible donations and grants, but that the local burner community and thereby the organization were oriented towards making a cultural impact upon our city, not generating profit. So the organization did a bit of a gear change and redirected it's intention towards a more traditional nonprofit structure.
In the process of creating a community legal entity, the organization had assumed responsibility for the 2 local events, Critical Massive and Seacompression, which had already gained relevance as touchstones of the Seattle burner community. Both events had been started by individuals harnessing their passion to make these events happen. A loose LLC called Massive had been independently formed to shelter the revenue and manage the expenses these events generated and, more immediately, was a way to keep the money out of personal bank accounts. Transitioning these events and their revenue from Massive LLC to what would soon be known as Ignition Northwest was a tumultuous and arduous process. This experience combined with some initial consultations with an accounting firm illustrated the organization's need for some professional guidance in the financial and organizational development realms.
Enter Shunpike. A member of the board was aware of a local nonprofit arts organization named Shunpike whose mission is to facilitate the responsible business development of small arts organizations in the city of Seattle. The board was encouraged to meet with Shunpike to discuss the goals and challenges in front of us. The board met with a representative of Shunpike and discussed the process of becoming a federally recognized 501c3 nonprofit organization. In order to achieve nonprofit status Ignition Northwest needed to be able to declare whom the organization served, how the organization served, and where this whole thing was going. Up to this point the question of mission had not surfaced, and by starting to jump through the hoops of the 501c3 process Ignition Northwest realized it needed some help defining it's goals and direction.
Ignition Northwest promptly hired Shunpike for two distinct reasons; first Shunpike provided a 501c3 umbrella that allowed Ignition Northwest to operate as a 501c3 while we were seeking our own federal standing; and second to facilitate and guide a 3-month strategic planning process. The strategic planning process was extensive. Focus groups were conducted with 3 distinct tiers of the burner community in Seattle: The Usual Suspects (major community stake holders/participants), John Q. Burner (active participants, but not leaders), and the Burn Curious/Kindling (cultural community members with shared values). Each focus group was asked the same series of questions:
- What is a Burner?
- How does the organization define its target community?
- What should the mission be for a nonprofit that serves this community?
- What programs should that organization provide to fulfill this mission?
The collective answers to these questions allowed Ignition Northwest (with the guidance of Shunpike) to clearly define the mission and create the Strategic Plan, a 4-year road map of where the organization/community is going and how to get there. Currently, Ignition Northwest's mission reads as follows:
Ignition Northwest fosters radical self-expression, participatory art, and the creation of positive social change by the Burner-based community in the Pacific Northwest through events, advocacy, engagement and services.
The Impact – Oh the places we'll go.
Emerging from the strategic planning process the board and the organization had a new sense of direction and renewed motivation to achieve the goals defined by the Strategic Plan. Board members could clearly see areas where they could invest their skills and passions into the community. Twice yearly overnight, out-of-town retreats were held to plan and develop new ideas and projects, streamline current processes and create a close knit and intuitive board. These retreats continue to be an invaluable part of the Ignition Northwest process.
Through the Strategic Planning process it became very clear that the regional events were a depended upon source of both revenue and community involvement. Ignition Northwest has continued to shepherd and grow these events, using them as both a revenue stream and as the biggest, most visible opportunity for community development. In the past 6 years Seacompression has transformed itself from a giant party to a giant portal, serving as the nexus for burners and Seattle at large. The event has hit its stride. Maintaining its singular and iconic location at an historic decommissioned naval base within the city of Seattle has not only allowed the local burner community to explore the artistic limits of the event, but also to support all levels of participation by managing and promoting hundreds of volunteer opportunities for anyone inclined to stand up and help. With an attendance level of 1,400 people last year, Seacompression continues to exceed expectations. This event has forged a cordial and expanding relationship with the Seattle city government through the fruits of dedication and great work by the volunteers and the production teams. This relationship with the city has allowed Seacompression to expand, but has also allowed Ignition Northwest the opportunity to work with the civic government on other events and projects.
The other annual Northwest event, Critical Massive, a weeklong outdoor camping spectravaganza, has also been through growing pains in the past couple years. Lacking the consistency of location that benefited Seacompression, the 6-year evolution of Critical Massive has been more spontaneous and sporadic. The need to find a new location almost every year has consistently proven to be a huge drain on energy and resources, as has the need to develop and manage an equitable and democratic producer selection process. Despite these ongoing challenges, lessons have been learned and changes are being made. The problematic producer selection process has been addressed this year by the appointment of a production team outside the pool of Usual Suspects whose major goal for the event is the development of community identity. Another ongoing challenge has been art at the event; both art granting and encouraging the creation of more art have been works in progress. The hope is that the incorporation of a theme this year will encourage participants to plan for and create more art for this year's event. Recognition and development of our corps of volunteers has been a knot which we continue to untie. The need to keep experienced volunteers as well as inspiring new ones has led us to revamp our event production structure on all levels, including but not limited to a dedicated Community Development position tasked with tracking and empowering our volunteers. Despite it's challenges, Critical Massive has always been a great event, and will only continue to get better.
Part of the mission described in the Strategic Plan is the need to conduct outreach to local organizations with whom Ignition Northwest has commonality. This outreach has had some remarkable successes. Working with Seattle Center, Seattle's iconic public event and art space built for the 1962 World Fair, Ignition Northwest provided logistical support and acted as a conduit to art and artists for this year's Winter Fire Festival. The festival, a showcase of fire performers and large-scale fire art, took place in Seattle Center but it might as well have been deep playa for all the burners present, both to enjoy and provide the art. Again, the continued professionalism and dedication of community members resulted in a strong and ongoing relationship with the city.
Another successful collaboration has been Artopia, also known as the Georgetown Neighborhood Street Fair, a neighborhood based exposition of art, games, food, power tool races and performance. Ignition Northwest's involvement was due in part to the success and evolution of Seacompression. For many years, a consistent complaint regarding Seacompression was the lack of all-ages accessibility. Rather than change the nature of Seacompression from a nighttime party into a daytime gathering, Ignition Northwest sought out a more family friendly event with which to partner. Serendipitously, a community member had become involved in the production of Artopia and Ignition Northwest contacted him to offer support. Working with him, Ignition Northwest provided logistical support, rallied theme camps to set up their Big Art in the heart of this Seattle neighborhood and provided performers and a stage that was the culmination of the festival. Not only did our participation further cement our reputation and relationship with various civic organizations, but also provided an all-ages event for our community and introduced an entire neighborhood to the burner aesthetic.
Most recently Ignition Northwest has been involved with the Burien/Interim Art Space (B/IAS), a temporary sculpture park and artist's p-patch in the suburb of Burien. The prime motivators behind B/IAS were an Ignition Northwest board member and his wife who both sit on the Burien Arts Commission. They saw an opportunity to bring relevant art to 3 square city blocks lying undeveloped and fallow. Working with city government and the property owner they were able to transform the space by bringing in large scale, burner style art. The burner community was brought in through numerous volunteer opportunities ranging from construction to performance, as well as the contribution of several large sculpture pieces. Opening night was a true burner party. The light from large flame reflected off the Staples sign in the strip mall across the street as well as in the faces of the crowd, many of whom had never seen flaming art before. B/IAS continues to develop as a focal point for the whole community. Plans are in discussion to bring in a farmers market and outdoor movie event this summer, and the opportunities are endless from there. It became clear in the Strategic Plan that the Seattle community wants to have a little more Black Rock City in the great Northwest, and B/IAS is helping to achieve that.
From its inception in small conversations, to democratic elections, to the development of policies and programs, Ignition Northwest has consistently worked to create a distinct and effective local community based on the tenets and paradigms of Burning Man. Whether through events, public art or community development, the application of radical self-reliance and expression has resulted in a continually close knit and energized community with a rapidly growing reputation for professionalism, responsibility and generally bringing it big. Challenges remain: communication, diversity, identity and execution are aspects of community-based organizations that do not, nor should they, produce neatly tied solutions. It is in the nature of our community and thereby our organization, to remain flexible, fluid and open. The policies and tenets that have been created through Ignition Northwest's 6-year history aspire to maintain this level of dynamism. By listening and leading, Ignition Northwest continues to inspire and empower the Seattle Burning Man community and the greater community at large to explore the possibilities of an active, mindful and exuberant civic life.
